For the first time in probably, well, ever, the Best Director
category has a real shot at featuring two female nominees. It goes
without saying how much that would mean, but it's early days and let's
not get ahead of ourselves, all of that.
However, in a year that has been roundly considered thin for awards
players, the director category features some of our most celebrated
auteurs. There are personal films and farcical romps and historical
dramas, each of them with a vision unique to the filmmaker. "Selma" is
the Martin Luther King movie only Ava DuVernay would make. "Gone Girl"
was adapted and captured in a way only David Fincher could have
envisioned. "American Sniper" is SUCH a Clint Eastwood movie. Etc.
So with all that in mind, we've put our heads together on the
top-contending helmers angling for consideration in this year's Best
Director Oscar race. But the branch has had some surprises up its
sleeves in years past. Will there be any shockers in this category on
Jan. 15?Click through the gallery story below to see what we're
thinking and give us your thoughts in the comments section. Also, pick
your current predictions in our poll.

The Oscars are supposed
to be Hollywood’s biggest night, but for the second year in a row, they
could mirror the independent Spirit Awards.

So far, the early frontrunners in the best picture race — IFC’s “Boyhood,” the Weinstein Co.’s “The Imitation Game,” Focus Features’ “The Theory of Everything,” Fox Searchlight’s “Birdman” and Sony Pictures Classics’ “Foxcatcher”
— are all modestly-budgeted films that opened in limited release. And
to date, they haven’t crossed over to wide release-sized grosses.
“Boyhood” leads the pack, with $24 million domestically.
A handful of other indies, including Sony Pictures Classics’
“Whiplash” and Searchlight’s “Wild” and “Grand Budapest Hotel,” also are
hovering on the fringes of the race, a category that was expanded to up
to 10 films in 2009, so that the Academy could recognize more
audience-friendly titles.
Last year, the Spirit Awards, which recognize the best achievements
in independent film, honored the same winners in every major category as
Oscar except best director: picture, actor/actress, supporting
actor/actress and best screenplay. And over the last 10 years, only
three best pic winners hailed from a major studio (all three were Warner
Bros. films: “Argo,” “The Departed” and “Million Dollar Baby”)
Will the studios upend that trend in 2015?
As of mid-November, the best picture offerings look sparse.
Paramount’s “Selma,” about Martin Luther King, Jr., is benefiting from a
surge of buzz from early screenings, but it’s the kind of drama that
the studio’s indie division used to release. And Oscar voters are
waiting to see Universal’s “Unbroken,” directed by Angelina Jolie, and
Disney’s musical “Into the Woods,” starring Meryl Streep and Johnny
Depp, which might be a better fit for the Golden Globes.
“Gone Girl,” which has grossed $153 million domestically, has been
absent from the campaign trail so far and Christopher Nolan’s
“Interstellar,” previously considered a frontrunner, will need to fight
to clinch a spot, following mixed reactions at Academy screenings.
Historically, more popular titles in the best picture race generally
translate to higher ratings for the Oscarcast. Last March’s awards show,
which had a decade-high viewership of 43 million, was bolstered by
picture nominees “Gravity,” “American Hustle,” “The Wolf of Wall Street”
and “Captain Phillips.” But given this year’s crop of contenders, the
Academy might need to keep expanding the best picture race in order to
include a box office winner. How many until it hits “The Hunger Games:
Mockingjay, Part 1”?